ITHACA – A roundtable discussion with 26 Ithaca area high-tech small business owners and workers looked at federal efforts designed to help spur growth and job creation in the emerging Tompkins County high-tech sector. 

Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) outlined several federal tax credits designed to help small businesses create jobs and also discussed federal grants that have been secured for research at Cornell University and the development of high-tech products at area companies, including Widetronix and Primet.  Hinchey also described the initiative being driven by The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC) to create a solar energy cluster in the region, and discussed how its efforts might be expanded to continue creating jobs.

"Targeted federal investments in research and new technologies can drive the creation of spin-off companies that create jobs in the development of market-ready products," said Hinchey. "In the Ithaca area, the high-tech industry is growing in large part because of these investments and also because of the strong leadership of local entrepreneurs. More broadly, I'm working to deliver the additional support these small businesses need to grow, including a tax credit worth up to 35 percent of health care premiums, hiring incentives through the HIRE act and improved access to lines of credit through a Small Business Lending Fund that I voted to create last week."

Hinchey recently visited Widetronix at the South Hill Business Campus in Ithaca to announce two federal grants worth a total of $2.2 million he helped secure for the company.  Widetronix is using the funds to expand its team and open a prototyping facility, creating five jobs in the near term and 25 high-tech jobs over the next several years. Representatives from Widetronix were in attendance for today's roundtable discussion.

The initial $1.2 million grant was secured through TSEC -- an industry-driven, non-profit organization that provides leadership, organization, resources, and support for the establishment of a major solar energy industry cluster in New York. 

The grants for Widetronix and Primet, along with a $17.5 million Department of Energy grant for Cornell's Energy Materials Center, are helping make Ithaca a hub for the development of high-tech battery technology that will help drive and expand the use of solar energy and other technologies. 

The companies that participated in today's roundtable discussion include: Widetronix, e2e Materials, Orthogonal, Centurion, Adenios, Aerofarms, Instinctiv, Zetroz, Microgen, Sanmita, Sound Reading, Vybion, Student Agencies, BinOptics, Seamless Receipts, Rheonix, Fortis Wind Energy USA, Gorges Websites, Tech2S, Upstate Venture Connect, International Food Network, Singlebrook Technology, GrowFit and Primet Precision Materials.  Brad Treat, Founder and CEO of Mezmeriz, Inc., organized the roundtable event.